


What is in a vow?

by anticsandshenanigans



Category: Sense8 (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Multi, Polyamory, bisexual hernando
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-29
Updated: 2016-11-29
Packaged: 2018-09-02 23:42:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8688142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anticsandshenanigans/pseuds/anticsandshenanigans





	

Lito tamped the coffee into the portafilter with practiced precision, and fixed it to the head of the espresso machine, and pressed the button. While he watched as the dark, thick, syrupy espresso dripped, then poured into the shot glass, he steamed the milk using the steam wand on the side of the machine. The steps to steaming milk ran through his mind while he carried them out. Put the steam wand in the milk, turn up the steam to high, tilt the pitcher slightly to the side, and let the steam swirl into a tiny vortex. While he steamed the milk, he watched the espresso to make sure it didn’t pull for too long. And…there! He flipped the switch on the machine and turned off the steamer. 

He examined the espresso shots with a professional eye. The thick, creamy layer on top had the perfect little dark spots that Lito associated with truly good espresso: the crema. The heart of espresso, that gave it its’ soul. To Lito, the crema was the most important part of a latte. If your shot doesn’t have a good crema, then it has no richness. The same way a life without love is static. 

Lito had spent so long cultivating his façade of confidence and power and when Hernando slipped into his life. Hernando was like a shot of espresso: He was powerful and smooth and rich, and he added so much to Lito’s existence that Lito wasn’t sure sometimes where Hernando ended and Lito began. 

Lito poured the espresso into a latte glass and let the steamed milk swirl into the thick, dark liquid. He placed the latte on a tray with an amazing breakfast spread including bacon and ham and eggs and thick waffles covered in strawberries and whipped cream. He quickly pulled another shot of espresso and placed it on the tray before he picked up the tray carefully, and brought it into the bedroom. 

Daniela was sprawled across the bed, her arm and one leg thrown over Hernando’s body, the other two spread out across the rest of the bed. Hernando had one arm wrapped around Dani’s waist, and one hand under his pillow. He was snuggled up under the duvet, his curly head barely poking out above the blanket. Dani had thrown the blanket off of her, and her naked body was truly the picture of disheveled beauty. Her hair was a mess, her mouth was open, and she was snoring loudly. Lito smiled softly, warmth pooling in his chest as he looked at his love, and his love’s love. 

He crept up on the bed, and placed the tray beside Hernando on the nightstand. He brushed the curls off his forehead, and kissed his cheek. “Are you awake?”

Hernando frowned in his sleep. Lito kissed his forehead and whispered in his ear again. “Are you awake?” 

“No.” Hernando mumbled sleepily. Dani snored loudly, and he wrinkled his nose. “No, I am not awake.”  
“Oh, that is a shame.” Lito said, grinning. “I guess I will eat this breakfast by myself, then.” 

“I am awake.” Hernando said quickly, sitting up and kissing Lito gently. 

“Wuzzah?” Dani groaned loudly and stretched as she sat up. “Mm, you made breakfast?”

“Yes, Dani, would you like some?” Lito passed her the espresso, and she smiled widely. 

“Mm! Good morning, handsome.” Dani took a sip of her espresso and groaned almost sexually. “Lito, this is good!”

Lito grinned in thanks, and handed Hernando his latte. Hernando took a sip and smiled appreciatively. As Lito went about putting the breakfast onto plates and passing them out, Dani stood up and walked about the room. 

Dani was not the least bit ashamed of her nakedness. She picked up clothes, and paired them, and changed the pairing, and looked at accessories for a solid 45 minutes. She bent over and squatted, and stretched, chattering all the while. Lito and Hernando just smiled and ate and chatted quietly. 

“Well I’m off!” Dani said brightly, blowing a kiss to Hernando before breezing out of the apartment in a clatter of heels, keys, and a slamming door. 

“I do not know where she gets her energy,” Hernando said softly. “but I wish she would share it with me.”

“Does she not?” Lito teased. 

“Well,” Hernando amended. “she does to a certain extent. Lito, I want to talk to you about something important.”

Lito felt his heart squeeze. He knew he probably had no reason to be afraid, but suddenly fear gripped him. “What is it, Hernando?”

“I want to marry Dani.” Hernando said simply. 

Lito’s heart broke into a thousand pieces. “You what?”

“I want to marry Dani.” Hernando repeated. “I love her, and I do not want to live without either of you, but Lito, you are so afraid of losing your career that I cannot think that you will ever want to publicly be with me.” 

“Hernando, you have my heart, what else do you need from me?” Lito asked. His voice was hoarse with agony. This apartment, this safe and sacred space seemed violated. 

“I need to be able to be with you, Lito!” Hernando whispered. His voice was hoarse, too. “Not just your kept man.”

“How could you say that to me.” Lito demanded. “You know what kind of pressure I’m under!” 

“Lito, you are so beloved by Mexico, how could you think that you would lose your career?” Hernando asked wearily. “I love you, you are my heart, but I love Dani, too. I know you love Dani, and I know that nothing will change between us. We will all continue the way we have been, but more committed. Dani would make a terrible wife, but, well…I love her.” 

Lito stared at Hernando, with his perfect beard, and his beautiful eyes; the way his shoulders looked: so full and thick. He thought of every moment he and Hernando had shared together. The day at the museum when they had fallen in love had been so wonderful. The light falling on the marble floor in front of Riviera’s sketches, the way it played along the bridge of Hernando’s nose and lips, the way it caressed his warm skin, the memory of it was precious to Lito. He couldn’t remember the last time he and Hernando had gone out, just the two of them. To a museum, to a movie, to dinner….it had been so long. Everything felt like it was falling apart. He felt his lower lip tremble, and the silence stretched between them. It was heavy.

Lito stood up and walked to the window. He stared out at Mexico City, the sprawling urban mess that he loved so dearly. He remembered when Hernando had left him, briefly, because of his unjust decision to abandon Daniela to Juaquin. He couldn’t believe at the time that Hernando would ever leave him, but he did. Lito knew, when he rescued her, that he was doing so for Hernando and not really for Daniela. 

Now, he knew, also, that he would rescue Daniela in spite of his fear for far less reason than he had before. Dani was a bright, irritating, lovable mess and he knew that Hernando was in love with her. Lito knew this. He had accepted it out of love for Hernando, and now, as he watched the sunlight sparkle on the skyscrapers and cars, he accepted it for itself. 

He knew how desperately Hernando craved a home and a family. He had always wanted children, and he’d always wanted the domesticity and the safety of not needing to hide. Was it better, now, to come out? To announce that Lito loved Hernando with all of his heart? 

He wasn’t sure. He knew that he loved Hernando with everything he had, forever. He wished that he had more to give him. He wanted to wear Hernando’s love like a brand on his skin for all to see. He wanted to have the big wedding, and the white, and the lights, and the first dance. He wanted all of it desperately. 

But….in Mexico, one could not just marry a man and have that be that. His career would die in a fiery explosion, but he needed this. He felt himself making a decision. He felt himself about to quail, and he blurted the words before he could stop himself. 

“Marry me.” 

There was silence for a long moment, before Hernando spoke. 

“What?” 

“Marry me.” Lito turned around and fell to his knees by the bed. “I want you to marry me, marry Daniela, marry the both of us. Nothing will change, but I want the world to know that I love you.”

“Lito.” Hernando breathed, his eyes wide with wonder and passion. He sat up in bed. Lito took his hands, and pressed them to his forehead, and kissed Hernando’s knuckles, and tears fell from his lashes. He looked up, and saw Hernando’s dark curls framed by the light from the lamp, and his plush lips parted in an ‘o’ and Lito wanted nothing more than to kiss those lips every day for the rest of his life. 

“Marry me, Hernando.” Lito said again.

“Are you sure?” Hernando asked. “Tell me you’re sure, because if you offer me this only to take it away, I will never forgive you.” 

“I am sure of nothing but my love for you.” Lito said. He stood, and pulled Hernando up into a kiss that was deeper than the ocean, and harder than either of them had ever been. “If you are my one surety, then I am safe forever.” 

“What movie is that from?” Hernando chuckled, and it turned into a laugh, and it turned into something more. Hernando picked Lito up and spun him around before they collapsed back onto the bed. He stroked Lito’s face, and kissed him again. “Lito, yes, yes, forever.” 

Their lips seared together like fire, branding them both as new men. Lito had no ring to give Hernando, he had nothing to show his love. He simply took Hernando’s hand in his, and kissed every knuckle, and the pulled up his other hand and kissed that one too. 

“I will get you a ring, so that you will always be able to see my love for you on your hand.” Lito said dramatically. 

“Then I will get you one, also.” Hernando smirked. “Perhaps then all of your pretty costars will leave you be, eh?”

The door to the apartment opened and shut loudly, and Daniela’s voice carried around the corner. “I knew I’d forgotten something! Aha!”

She grabbed a stunning pair of designer sunglasses off of her vanity. She turned around, and smiled to see her boys cuddled up in bed still. She pushed the fashionable large sunglasses up on top of her head, and came over to them. She ran her hand up Hernando’s arm softly. “Hello boys, what have we here? You’re not going to have sex are you? Because you know how much I love to watch.”

“Dani?” Hernando said quietly. 

“Yes, ‘Nando?” she said, slightly confused.

“Marry me.” 

Dani’s mouth opened in a perfect ‘o’, and she squealed, diving on top of them. Lito yelled in surprise, and Hernando pulled them both into the biggest bear hug he could. 

“Is that a yes?” He asked, looking at Lito. Lito shrugged, and smiled widely. 

“Of course not!” Dani laughed. “I’m amazed you want to marry me, Nando, and I’m thrilled that you asked me. Really. I am. But no way.”

“What?” Hernando was flummoxed. “Dani, come here.”

She snuggled into the crook of his arm, and patted his chest. “Now, I’ll be the maid of honor at your wedding, and you two will live happily ever after, but really, Nando, I’m not getting married. Where’s the fun in that?”

“I see.” Hernando smirked. “Would you like it better if I kidnapped you like Juaquin?”

“Perhaps.” Dani smirked back. “More dramatic that way, don’t you think, Lito?”

“Oh definitely.” Lito feigned seriousness. 

“No, I don’t think I’ll ever get married.” Dani said. “If I were going to, I’d totally marry you, though, ‘Nando.”

“It is a great consolation.” Hernando said. He smiled and shook his head. 

“You aren’t mad?” Dani wrinkled her nose a bit and smiled beseechingly.

“Not at all, Daniela.” Hernando said lightly. “I will just have to wear you down!”

“Good luck!” Dani said. “Seriously though, your wedding is going to be so fantastic! Lito, have you thought about it at all?” 

“A few thoughts had crossed my mind,” Lito admitted. His mouth spread in a smile so infectious it seemed to make the sun shine a bit brighter. “we both walk down the aisle, but from separate sides of the room, right, and we meet in the middle.”  
“Oh that’s a great idea!” Dan said. “What happens if you had this three way arch?? So you both come in at a bit of an angle, to meet the Padre in the middle of this V, like this?” 

Hernando leans back against the headboard, and sips his latte. He watches the two loves of his life animatedly discuss the plans for his wedding, and looks out of the window over Mexico City. It is a beautiful day. 

He cuts himself a bite of waffle, and sighs happily. What a man. What a woman. What a life.


End file.
